re: #226 Decatur Deb

Northern NJ has a high concentration of Superfund sites due to the manufacturing legacies around the region. We have Ringwood where Ford dumped all kinds of paint wastes into the watershed. We have hexavalent chromium groundwater contamination in Garfield - causes cancers even from vapor exposure. We have even radium contamination from when radium was used to make watch dials glow. Radioactive thorium contamination in another town. Mercury contamination in the Meadowlands near Metlife Stadium. Passaic River is heavily contaminated from dioxin and other industrial chemicals both above and below the Dundee dam.

Closer to casa lawhawk, we have perchlorate water contamination from dry cleaners.

It’s the legacy of dumping chemicals that are out of site / out of mind, and new understanding about the persistence of these chemicals and materials in the environment and the damage they can do to human health or the environment.